Any way you break down Saturday’s Western Conference semifinal between the Los Angeles Football Club and the Vancouver Whitecaps, the contest comes off like the best MLS can offer at the moment.

It’s easy enough to focus on the marquee with global stars Son Heung-min, 33, and Thomas Müller, 36, because both internationally beloved game-changers have delivered for their teams since arriving in the summer, though that misses a lot.

Saturday is the 13th all-time meeting for the two across club and international competitions. While experiencing their closing act in Europe prior to joining MLS this summer, their soon-to-be teams met 14 times since April 2023, including eight games between the MLS postseason, CONCACAF Champions League and Leagues Cup.

LAFC got the better of the Whitecaps over that stretch, going 8-3-3 against them with a plus-11 goal differential en route to eliminating the Canadians from three separate competitions, including the opening round of the previous two MLS postseasons.

The protagonist for most of those encounters was Denis Bouanga, who served as former Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini’s boogeyman until the Italian was relieved of his duties once LAFC ended Vancouver’s season for the second straight year in 2024.

Scoring nine of his 101 career goals against Vancouver, including four in five playoff meetings, Bouanga’s seven assists definitely places him on the marquee, too – like a Freddy or Jason.

“I can’t really explain it,” Bouanga, 31, said through an interpreter on Thursday. “I like to play them here or at their stadium, where there is synthetic grass. I can’t really explain why I’m really effective playing against them. Hopefully this will continue [on Saturday].”

LAFC’s last playoff win at BC Place, where this weekend’s sold-out conference semifinal should draw upward of 50,000 fans, finished 1-0 on a Bouanga penalty kick in 2023.

The lone player in MLS history to score at least 20 goals in three straight seasons is now Danish head coach Jesper Sørensen’s burden.

Though the French attacker quickly introduced himself in May, scoring to give LAFC a 2-0 lead at BC Place in the clubs’ initial regular-season clash, the Whitecaps, who set a league record for the most goal-scorers in the regular season at 21, kept composure long enough for American forward Brian White’s two-goal effort to secure a draw.

The following month, in the immediate wake of the Black & Gold’s Club World Cup journey, Vancouver beat LAFC, 1-0, in Los Angeles.

For the first time since LAFC entered MLS in 2018, Vancouver claimed the season series – another indication that the surging Whitecaps under Sørensen, who also advanced to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final, had something else in mind.

Shortly after Son’s move to LAFC in early August, Müller’s addition to an already confident and talented group pushed Vancouver to fight for the top seed in the West until Decision Day, closing the regular season three points above Cherundolo’s team to claim the No. 2 seed behind San Diego.

Well-rounded, fit, disciplined and consistent, the Whitecaps proved comfortable playing with and against the ball for most of year, impressing Cherundolo through their consistency of sliding through, stepping forward and moving as a unit in a very narrow, compact block similar to the early New York Red Bulls teams that were known for high pressing and relentlessness.

“That’s not easy to do” but Sørensen did a great job of aligning his style of play with the players at his disposal, Cherundolo said, including former LAFC center back and 2025 MLS Defensive Player of the Year Tristan Blackmon.

Add the emergence of starting American midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and the ability to bring on three or four substitutes capable of changing the trajectory of a match, and Cherundolo expects the most competitive LAFC-Vancouver contest of his four-year tenure.

The clubs had nearly three full weeks to scout, analyze, dissect, game plan and train after sweeping their respective first-round series.

Matching Vancouver’s work rate and aggressive mentality will be the very least LAFC must do to advance to the conference final for the third time in four seasons.

“I do have the knowledge and I think the experience to say my teams show up for moments like this,” Cherundolo said prior to what would be his last appearance as the club’s head coach if they lose. “I can imagine there are plenty of other teams Vancouver would rather play than LAFC.”

When: Saturday, 6:30 p.m.

Where: BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

TV/Radio: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV/710 AM, 980 AM, 1230 AM